‘Secret City’ fascination behind new ‘Girls’ book

“The world is very fascinated with your town,” author Denise Kiernan told an Oak Ridge audience of 300 or so people.

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By Beverly Majors/Staff

Oakridger - Oak Ridge, TN

By Beverly Majors/Staff

Posted Mar. 24, 2013 at 8:33 PM
Updated Mar 24, 2013 at 8:37 PM

By Beverly Majors/Staff

Posted Mar. 24, 2013 at 8:33 PM
Updated Mar 24, 2013 at 8:37 PM

OAK RIDGE

“The world is very fascinated with your town,” author Denise Kiernan told an Oak Ridge audience of 300 or so people.

Kiernan was the guest speaker at the 16th annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series, named after the founding editor of The Oak Ridger and held at the American Museum of Science and Energy.

The author talked about her new book, “The Girls of Atomic City,” which tells the true stories of the women who lived and worked in the “Secret City” during the Manhattan Project.

“It went on the New York Times Bestseller list last week,” Kiernan told the full auditorium of listeners. “I’m thrilled with the response. I’m very, very happy.”

Kiernan said the sales of the book have really taken off and she will talk about the book in a few weeks when she is a guest on “The Daily

“So, Oak Ridge is going to be on ‘Jon Stewart,’” she said.

And, the author doesn’t mind talking about “The Girls of Atomic City.” In fact, Kiernan herself became “fascinated” with the women she wrote about when she first noticed a photo of some of them while working on another project.

The photo that caught her eye is the now famous Ed Westcott photo of the Manhattan Project “calutron girls.” Westcott was the official photographer for the Manhattan Project.

Kiernan said when she saw the photo, she talked to history professors and friends who are history buffs and no one seemed to know the story of the Secret City. At the time, she was in Asheville, N.C., so she decided to make the drive to Oak Ridge.

“I then tracked people down,” she said.

And, then people began to tell her stories.

Those stories are the focus of the book, but they also help her answer questions about Oak Ridge — like for instance, “Why did people go to a mysterious place without knowing much about it?” and “How did they keep it a secret?”

“They may not have known exactly the job they were doing, but they knew their work was going to help bring an end to the war and that was enough,” Kiernan said.

And, keeping it a secret wasn’t really all that hard because there were “reminders” not only in Oak Ridge, but all over the nation during World War II. Signs in Oak Ridge included the one about “What you see here ... let it stay here.”

Page 2 of 2 - Kiernan also talked about how she researched the book, in addition to her interviews. She said the National Archives in Atlanta holds 5,000 boxes of documents, “which are there for every American citizen.”

In those papers, Kiernan found documents of Eric Clarke, chief psychiatrist on the Manhattan Project, who was also “clearly just fascinated” about the city “constructed from scratch.”

Clarke’s papers showed women’s routines, the diversity of the city’s citizens and his affection for the people, she said.

“The women who worked (outside the home) had a rhythm to their lives,” the author said. “Housewives had it tougher.”

She said the housewife had all the chores to deal with, the mud, the long lines at stores, and often had to carry toddlers or children on and off city buses.

“What helped were all the recreation activities,” Kiernan said. “They (activities) started slow, but then there were dances four or five times a week.”

Kiernan also said she was told about roller skating and sports activities and said bowling was probably the most “popular thing to do.”

Other questions she said she has fielded while promoting “The Girls of Atomic City” are “When did they find out (about what they were doing)?” and “Is Oak Ridge still there?”

Kiernan said the housewives probably learned about the bomb first if they had a radio, then word spread in many ways.

“Then in the President’s address, he actually mentioned Oak Ridge,” she said. “It’s stunning to me.”

Kiernan said some of the scientists may have “figured it out, but now 70 years later some still wouldn’t talk about it.”

As far as Oak Ridge still existing, she said, “When you put a bunch of single men and single women behind a fence and dance five days a week, it’s not going anywhere.”

“They stayed. There was no way Oak Ridge was going to stop existing,” she said.

“People all over the country are fascinated about Oak Ridge,” she said. “You should know that. I encourage everyone to do oral histories.

“Get those memories preserved.”

Beverly Majors can be contacted at (865) 220-5514.

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Denise Kiernan is an author, journalist and producer. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Village Voice, Saveur, Discover, Ms., Sports Illustrated for Kids, Conde Nast Sports for Women and others. In addition to her books for adults and children, she was head writer for ABC’s “Who Wants to be Millionaire” during its Emmy award-winning first season and has produced for ESPN, MSNBC and others.